The Light of a Child
by Kirabaros
Summary: Eileen may have been trained by a hunter but she learned some important things from Angie. A look at how it felt seeing her again. Tag to Into the Mystic.


**The Light of a Child**

For thirty years it had been nothing but revenge; revenge for killing the thing that killed her parents when she was a baby. Eileen knew that she was close when she tracked it to the retirement home. She went in undercover as one of the maids and things went well until she met the Winchesters.

At first she thought they were the thing that she was hunting. She had set up the trap to bind them. She really didn't want to since Sam seemed to be a nice guy. But she had to. She had to hunt the thing that killed her parents. And she almost had him until she stepped in. Eileen thought she was seeing a ghost the moment she saw her.

She looked like she did when Eileen first met her but a little older, like the world was written upon her face. It was an odd thing to think about but it was the best she could come up with since she knew that the woman in front of her was older than most people. Eileen never thought she would see her again after the one hunt that ended up in a disaster.

 _Eileen_ , the woman signed, _you have the wrong person._

Eileen could only stare at the woman as she debated. She thought that she had died so long ago. She heard the rumors, the stories that were told of the woman who did things since then but she didn't want to believe it. She had seen what had happened and…

The woman looked at her with a firm expression. It was neither threatening nor submissive. That was how Eileen remembered her. She merely waited and would react to the choice being made. It was how Eileen learned to read people, to read her opponent if she needed to use her fists and it worked in general when she hunted. She knew that the woman was waiting for her to make her move and Eileen knew that she would go full on battle.

Eileen may have been deaf and she could read lips but she had learned to see other things. She looked at the woman and knew from her posture that she would attack if provoked. But she would also defend herself if she were attacked. It was how Eileen used to be drawn into sparring fights; it was a test of her skills. Eileen didn't move as she gripped her knife and held it ready to attack.

 _I know you are hunting the thing that killed your parents._ The woman had relaxed a little and started signing while speaking. More likely it was for the benefit of Sam. _It is what you were trained for since you were rescued. It was why you were sent to me._

Eileen blinked and replied out loud, "You are not her. You died that day. I saw it." She pointed at herself to emphasize her point.

 _I should have died that night_ , the woman signed as she spoke, _I was careless but only because you were in danger._

"I can take care of myself."

 _I know._ The woman then stopped speaking and went on signing, _But you meant a lot to me. Still do. There hasn't been a day that has gone by that I haven't thought about the things I have done, the people I left behind and I have some regrets. One was letting you live without me._

"You didn't raise me. Why would you care?" Eileen knew that she was revealing more than what she wanted to in front of Sam. Yet seeing the woman was bringing back memories that she kept locked away because they made her cry. "You only owed Lillian a favor."

 _It was a favor for a favor but I didn't see it that way._ The woman lowered her hands and studied Eileen. She lifted her hands and signed more, _When the hunter brought you to me, she wanted me to heal you. But I couldn't. I told her to raise you and take care of you and to teach you that being deaf is not a curse but a gift._

Eileen looked at the woman. She knew the story well. It was one of the few that she had remembered when she had asked. "That I could do what I wanted by learning to use my other senses." She then chuckled a bit and added, "You slapped me."

"Only because you were a brat the first time I started training you," the woman said out loud, "And you slapped me first."

Eileen was starting to be convinced that the woman was who she said she was. "Do you remember what you used to call me?"

The woman smiled and made a sign. It was enough and Eileen released Sam even though the woman could have done so before letting it get this far. Once Sam was released, Eileen walked up towards the woman and looked at her. She was as she remembered and couldn't help but grab the woman in a hug. She said out loud, "It is you."

The hug lasted as long as Eileen held onto the woman. When she broke it, she spared a glance at Sam and noticed that he didn't appear surprised at all from the turn of events. As it turned out it wasn't unusual for him to meet up with people that knew the woman, his wife, from previous encounters. He was actually nice about it and asked her how she knew his wife.

The hunt worked out in that they got the banshee. Eileen killed it by herself and her old friend watched her do it much like a teacher watches their student. Eileen knew that her teacher could have taken on the banshee but instead she went to help the other hunter Dean. The only help she gave was trapping the banshee. True the symbols were touched but Eileen knew that wasn't the only thing.

The first time her teacher had used her powers… it was something Eileen couldn't forget. The feeling was unique. She could feel the power behind it but she also sensed that it was old. Not old like an elderly person but old like it was ancient. Since then she had experienced similar abilities but it didn't feel the same. Her teacher was different and Eileen kept it a secret since she sensed that she might not be allowed to see her again if she said something.

Eileen never regretted keeping that secret about her teacher. In the end she kept returning once a year for a month. It was always in a different location depending upon where her teacher was at; whatever job she was working. Each time had its lesson and time for when Eileen could be a normal person.

There were times when there was no training, no learning about something that Eileen had never known before. It was just living. She was encouraged to do things that kids her age would be doing. Though there were those times when the things they did that were normal did have lessons attached to them. It was how her teacher pretty much worked.

 _Most people only see the obvious. Sometimes you have to see beyond the obvious to see what the larger purpose is._

Her teacher not helping her was part of that lesson. Then again she had always told Eileen that there was only so much she could show her. The rest had to come from her being able to put those skills into practice. Eileen had taken that to heart and put it towards getting revenge for her parents but now that the job was done… it wasn't all it cracked up to be. Now it was time for her teacher and her companions to leave. And she didn't want it to happen.

"You know," her teacher signed and spoke, "This isn't goodbye."

Eileen looked at the woman who had bene her teacher. She replied, "I know. But… I saw you. You died."

"I survived that. And I stayed away… To protect you."

"And I can take care of myself."

Eileen would have said more but her teacher stopped talking and began signing, _I know you can. But you don't need me bringing you trouble._

Eileen frowned at that and signed back, _What trouble? I'm a hunter._

 _Look beyond the obvious, Sweetpea._

Eileen knew what that meant. She understood now that there were things that her teacher knew that she could never tell to anyone and that they were beyond what she had been taught. It was painful to hear but Eileen understood. She remembered when she had been first taught that and how sad her teacher had looked and here she was still with that same look but less sad. Nodding, she replied, _I understand. But you don't have to do everything alone._

 _I'm not alone. I have you._

Eileen felt tears prick at her eyes when her teacher signed what they used to tell each other how much they meant to each other. She replied in kind before giving her a hug. Out loud she said, "I won't forget, Angie."

As Eileen watched the Impala drive away, she felt happy, truly happy and it was a first in a long time. Apart from killing the banshee, she found the person that made her life full. Her teacher wasn't dead but alive and always there no matter what. Everything she learned about the deeper lessons came from the teacher that she learned early on was part vampire and that vampire was a light in her world.

* * *

 **A/N:** Looks like another person knows Angie and she made an impact on their life. Tag to Into the Mystic.


End file.
